The invention relates generally to the field of television, video and multimedia presentations. More specifically, the invention relates to personalized sequencing of multimedia (visual, audio and/or text) information segments, e.g., video clips, to create a custom presentation of the clips.
A newscast presented by a local television station or a national television network may include news, weather, traffic, sports, and feature programs. Such newscasts may present the news in an order such as news headlines, several news stories, weather, sports, and a feature segment. This order is usually presented to viewers based on perceived importance by a news director or producer.
With the advent of the World Wide Web (WWW or “the Web”), many television stations and national networks have websites that describe the programs broadcast on those stations. A user accessing one of these websites may be able to read the weather report presented in a newscast earlier that day, or review the news or sports stories delivered during the newscasts broadcast that day or in the recent past. In some instances, if the user's computer has audio and video capabilities, the user may be able to play back the whole newscast or a selected news or sports story. The content may be downloaded to the user's computer and played back using a media player, or the content may consist of streaming video over which playback the user exercises little or no control.
A local news station in New York City, “NY1,” takes this playback capability one step further. That station's website (www.ny1.com) includes a “Build-A-Newscast” section where users may create their own newscast simply by selecting from a menu of about fourteen topic areas up to three currently-airing video clips in the order the users desire.